Reproducing device, headphone and reproducing method

ABSTRACT

A reproducing device includes a reproducing unit configured to reproduce a contents sound, an output unit configured to output the contents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit to a headphone, a talk detection unit configured to detect that a headphone fitter who fits the headphone talks with a person and an image normal position control unit configured to move the normal position of the image of the contents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit to an arbitrary position when the talk detecting unit has detected that the headphone fitter has started talking with the person.

CROSS-REFERENCE PARAGRAPH

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/887,967, filed Sep. 22, 2010, which claims thebenefit of priority from prior Japanese Priority Patent Application JP2009-247927 filed in the Japan Patent Office on Oct. 28, 2009, theentire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Each of theabove-referenced applications is hereby incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a reproducing device, a headphone and areproducing method which may be favorably applicable, for example, inthe case that one person (assumed to be a male) talks with anotherperson with a headphone fitted on his head.

2. Description of the Related Art

Nowadays, a reproducing device and a headphone of the types having aso-called noise cancelling function for picking up external sounds usinga microphone attached to the headphone and outputting a sound which isout of phase with the external sounds to reduce sounds (noise) from theoutside are commercially available. Incidentally, in the followingdescription, the noise cancelling function will be referred to as the NCfunction and the microphone will be referred to as the mike.

Use of a reproducing device and a headphone of the above mentioned typesmay make it possible for a user to listen to the music or the like ofclear tone quality in which external noise has been reduced.

Incidentally, in the case that a person calls out to a user and the userintends to talk with the person while the user is listening to the musicwith a headphone as mentioned above fitted on his head, the voice of theperson may be also regarded as the noise from the outside and reducedbecause the NC function works, the voice of the person may be hardlycaught and hence it may become difficult to talk with the person.

Therefore, in the above mentioned situation, for example, the user mayremove the headphone from his head to talk with the person. In addition,a headphone which is provided with a mute button used to temporarilystop working of the NC function and output of a reproduced sound so asto listen to external sounds may be also available. When a headphone asmentioned above is used, a user may be permitted to talk with a personwith the headphone fitted on his head by depressing the mute button.

However, it may be troublesome for the user to remove the headphone fromhis head and to depress the mute button each time. In particular, in thecase that the user's hands are full of baggage, the user may take thetrouble to put the baggage on the ground and then to remove theheadphone from his head or to depress the mute button.

Thus, in a reproducing device and a headphone as mentioned above, inorder to improve their handiness in talking with a person, it isdesirable for the user to talk with a person with the headphone fittedon his head and with no operation of any button.

Therefore, a headphone configured to permit a user to talk with a personwho is present in the front of the user with the headphone fitted on hishead and with no operation of any button by outputting a sound generatedfrom the front without turning the volume thereof low is proposed, forexample, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.2008-193420.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the case that a user talks with a person who is present inthe front of the user in a state in which a reproduced sound is beingoutput from the above mentioned headphone, it may sometimes occur thatthe image of the voice of the person who is present in the front of theuser overlaps the image of the reproduced sound and the voice of theperson is hardly caught.

In the above mentioned situation, eventually, it may become unavoidablefor the user to remove the headphone from his head or depress areproduction stop button used to stop output of a reproduced sound andhence the handiness of the headphone in talking with the person may bereduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above mentionedpoints and aims to propose a reproducing device, a headphone and areproducing method which are more increased in handiness in talking witha person than ever.

In order to solve the above mentioned problems, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, there is provided a reproducingdevice including a reproducing unit configured to reproduce a contentssound, an output unit configured to output the contents sound which hasbeen reproduced using the reproducing unit to a headphone, a talkdetection unit configured to detect that a headphone fitter who fits theheadphone talks with a person and an image normal position control unitconfigured to move the normal position of the image of the contentssound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit to anarbitrary position when the talk detecting unit has detected that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a headphone including a reproducing unit configured toreproduce a contents sound, a loudspeaker configured to output thecontents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit, atalk detecting unit configured to detect that a headphone fitter whofits the headphone talks with a person and an image normal positioncontrol unit configured to, when the talk detecting unit detects thatthe headphone fitter has started talking with the person, move thenormal position of the image of the contents sound which has beenreproduced using the reproducing unit to an arbitrary position.

Owing to the above mentioned arrangement, it may become possible toautomatically move the normal position of the image of a contents soundto the rear of a headphone fitter, under the assumption that theheadphone fitter starts talking with a person who is present, forexample, in the front of him. As a result, it may become possible toprevent the image of the voice of the person from overlapping the imageof the contents sound and hence the headphone fitter may be permitted totalk with the person who is present in the front of him without removingthe headphone from his head or depressing a reproduction stop button.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it may becomepossible to automatically move the normal position of the image of acontents sound to the rear of a headphone fitter, under the assumptionthat a headphone fitter starts talking with a person who is present, forexample, in the front of him. As a result, it may become possible toprevent the image of the voice of the person from overlapping the imageof the contents sound and hence the headphone fitter may be permitted totalk with the person who is present in the front of him without removingthe headphone from his head or depressing the reproduction stop button.Therefore, a reproducing device, a headphone and a reproducing methodwhich are more increased in handiness in talking with a person than evermay be implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration ofa reproducing device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of aconfiguration of a headphone system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating examples of internalconfigurations of a headphone and a DAP;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the normalposition of the image of a sound in a listening mode;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example in which thenormal position of the image of the sound has been moved to the rear ofa headphone fitter in a talking mode;

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example in which thenormal position of the image of the sound has been returned to itsoriginal position in the listening mode;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a timing chart indicatingtiming of mode shifting from a listening mode to a talking mode and thenback to the listening mode;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flowchart indicatingprocedures of a mode shifting process; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an internal configurationof a player-integrated type headphone.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. Description will be made inthe following order.

1. Embodiment 2. Altered Embodiments 1. Embodiment 1-1 Summary ofEmbodiment

First, the summary of an embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed and description of specific examples thereof will follow.

In an example illustrated in FIG. 1, reproducing device 1 is described.The reproducing device 1 includes a reproducing unit 2 configured toreproduce a contents sound and an output unit 4 configured to output thecontents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit 2 toa headphone 3. The reproducing device 1 also includes a talk detectingunit 5 configured to detect that a headphone fitter talks with a personand an image normal position control unit 6 configured to, when theconversation detecting unit 5 detects that the headphone fitter hasstarted talking with the person, move the normal position of the imageof the contents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducingunit 2 to an arbitrary position.

With the use of a configuration as mentioned above as a basicconfiguration, the reproducing device 1 may permit to automatically movethe normal position of the image of the contents sound to the rear ofthe headphone fitter, under the assumption that the headphone fitterstarts talking with a person who is present in the front of him. As aresult, the image of the voice of the person is prevented fromoverlapping the image of the contents sound and hence the headphonefitter is permitted to talk with the person without removing theheadphone from his head or depressing a reproduction stop button.

In addition, the reproducing device 1 may be configured such that theimage normal position control unit 6 controls to move the normalposition of the image of the contents sound which has been reproducedusing the reproducing unit 2 back to its original position when the talkdetecting unit 5 detects that the headphone fitter has finished talkingwith the person.

Likewise, the headphone 3 may include a microphone 7 configured to pickup external sounds. In the above mentioned case, in the reproducingdevice 1, the talk detecting unit 5 analyzes the external sounds whichhave been picked up using the microphone 7 and judges that the headphonefitter has started talking with the person when speaking of theheadphone fitter to the person has been detected.

Likewise, in the reproducing device 1, the talk detecting unit 5 may beconfigured to analyze the external sounds which have been picked upusing the microphone 7 and to judge that the headphone fitter hasfinished talking with the person when a state in which the headphonefitter does not speak to the person has lasted for a fixed time period.

Likewise, the reproducing device 1 may include a noise cancelling unit 8configured to cancel noise by synthesizing a sound which is out of phasewith the external sounds which have been picked up using the microphone7 with the contents sound which has been reproduced using thereproducing unit 2. In the above mentioned case, the image normalposition control unit 6 controls the noise cancelling unit 8 when it isdetected that the headphone fitter has started talking with the personto bring noise cancellation into OFF state and to synthesize theexternal sounds which have been picked up using the microphone 7 withthe contents sound which has been reproduced using the reproducing unit2 simultaneously.

Likewise, in the reproducing device 1, the image normal position controlunit 6 may be configured to move the normal position of the image of thereproduced contents sound to an arbitrary position when it is detectedthat the headphone fitter has started talking with the person and todecrease the volume of a sound in a frequency band which is the same asthat of a human voice in the contents sound concerned.

Likewise, the reproducing device 1 may include a position detecting unit9 configured to detect the position of the person who talks with theheadphone fitter. In the above mentioned case, the image normal positioncontrol unit 6 controls to move the normal position of the image of thereproduced contents sound to a position which is different from that ofthe person which has been detected using the position detecting unit 9when it is detected that the headphone fitter has started talking withthe person.

Likewise, the headphone 3 may include a movement detecting unit 10configured to detect a movement of the face of the headphone fitter. Inthe above mentioned case, in the reproducing device 1, the conversationdetecting unit 5 is configured to judge that the headphone fitter hasstarted talking with the person, when the movement of the face which isdetected using the movement detecting unit 10 has been changed to apredetermined movement.

Likewise, the reproducing device 1 may include a beam-forming processunit 11 configured to perform a beam-forming process for emphasizingonly a sound which comes from a specific position on the external soundswhich have been picked up using the microphone 7.

Likewise, the headphone 3 may include a bone-conduction microphone 12.In the above mentioned case, in the reproducing device 1, the talkdetecting unit 5 is configured to judge, when the talk detecting unit 5analyzes sounds which have been picked up using the bone-conductionmicrophone 12 and detects speaking of the headphone fitter to theperson, that the headphone fitter has started talking with the person.

Likewise, the headphone 3 may include a camera 13 configured tophotograph a subject which is present in the front of the headphonefitter. In the above mentioned case, in the reproducing device 1, thetalk detecting unit 5 is configured to perform a person detectingprocess of detecting a person concerned from within an image which hasbeen photographed using the camera 13 and to judge, in the case that theperson is not detected any more as a result of execution of the persondetecting process, that the headphone fitter has finished talking withthe person.

Likewise, in the reproducing device 1, the image normal position controlunit 6 may be configured to control the noise cancelling unit 8 toincrease the volume of a sound in a predetermined frequency band whichis included in the external sounds which have been picked up using themicrophone 7 when the external sounds which have been picked up usingthe microphone 7 are synthesized with the reproduced contents sound.

Incidentally, FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which all the noisecancelling unit 8, the position detecting unit 9 and the beam-formingprocess unit 11 are included in the reproducing device 1. However, theabove mentioned units may be appropriately included in the reproducingdevice 1 and it is not the case that all the units are typicallyincluded in the reproducing device 1.

Likewise, FIG. 1 illustrates the example in which all the microphone 7,the movement detecting unit 10, the bone-conduction microphone 12 andthe camera 13 are included in the headphone 3. However, the abovementioned units may be appropriately included in the headphone 3 and itis not the case that all the units are typically included in theheadphone 3.

In addition, in the summary of the embodiment, although the reproducingdevice 1 has been described as a device which is separated from theheadphone 3, the basic configuration of the reproducing device 1 may beincluded in the headphone 3. In the above mentioned case, the sameeffects as the above may be obtained by configuring the headphone 3 as asingle unit. In addition, a part (for example, the noise cancelling unit8) may be included in the headphone 3.

1-2 Specific Examples of Embodiment 1-2-1 Configuration of Headphone

Next, specific examples of an embodiment of the present invention willbe described. FIG. 2 illustrates a headphone system 100 with the NCfunction. The headphone system 100 includes a headphone 101 and adigital audio player (also called a DAP) 102. The headphone 101 isradio-connected with the DAP 102.

The DAP 102 includes a mass flash memory. Music data which is stored inthe flash memory is decoded and a digital voice signal which is obtainedas a result of execution of data decoding is transmitted to theheadphone 101. The headphone 101 which has received the digital voicesignal from the DAP 102 outputs a sound (that is, the music) on thebasis of the digital voice signal.

In the headphone 101, mikes McL and McR configured to pick up externalsounds are respectively included in left and right housing units 101Land 101R. The headphone 101 digitally processes the sounds which havebeen picked up using the mikes McL and McR to generate a sound which isout of phase with these sounds and mixes (synthesizes) the generatedout-of-phase sound with the digital voice signal which has been receivedfrom the DAP 102 to reduce the sound (noise) from the outside.

Owing to the above mentioned operation, the headphone system 100 permitsthe headphone fitter (that is, a user) to listen to the music of cleartone quality which is reduced in the noise from the outside.

Incidentally, the headphone 101 and the DAP 102 are configured tocommunicate with each other in a state in which they recognize eachother as communication mates by being subjected to pairing.

1-2-2 Internal Configurations of Headphone and DAP

Next, the internal configurations of the headphone 101 and the DAP 102will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The DAP 102 is configuredsuch that a system control unit 110 which includes a CPU, a ROM. A RAMand the like generally controls operations.

Specifically, the system control unit 110 recognizes that, for example,a reproducing operation has been performed by a user on the basis of aninput signal from a control unit 111, reads music data out of a flashmemory 112 and transmits the read music data to a reproducing unit 113.Simultaneously with the above mentioned operation, the system controlunit 110 acquires information on the title of the music and the artist'sname who plays the music from the read music data and makes a displayunit 141 display the acquired information.

The reproducing unit 113 decodes the music data which has been read outof the flash memory 112 under the control of the system control unit 110to obtain a digital voice signal and transmits the obtained digit voicesignal to a volume and image normal position control unit 115.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 performs anequalizing process of adjusting the volume per frequency band and imagenormal position processing of setting the normal position of an image onthe digital voice signal which has been decoded using the reproducingunit 113.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 operates in alistening mode which is suited when a headphone fitter intents to listento music or in a talking mode which is suited when the headphone fitterintends to talk with a person.

In general, the volume and image normal position control unit 115operates in the listening mode. In operation in the listening mode, thevolume and image normal position control unit 115 performs the imagenormal position processing on the digital voice signal transmitted fromthe reproducing unit 113 such that the normal position of the imagethereof is moved to the front of the headphone fitter and then transmitsthe digital voice signal to an RF transmission unit 116.

Incidentally, the digital voice signal which is transmitted from thereproducing unit 113 includes a voice signal for a left channel and avoice signal for a right channel and the volume and image normalposition control unit 115 performs the image normal position processingrespectively on both of them and then transmits signals so subjected tothe image normal position processing to the RF transmit unit 116 as aset of digital voice signals (for the convenience of explanation, simplyreferred as the digital voice signal and the same thing also applies toother signals which will be described hereinbelow).

The RF transmission unit 116 converts the digital voice signal which hasbeen transmitted from the volume and image normal position control unit115 to an RF signal and then outputs the converted RF signal.

An RF reception unit 120 of the headphone 101 receives the RF signalwhich has been output from the RF transmission unit of the DAP 102 andconverts the RF signal to a digital voice signal. The digital voicesignal is then transmitted to a DAC (D/A converter) 122 via a digitalmixer unit 121 and is converted to an analog voice signal.

The analog voice signal is then amplified using a headphone amplifier123 and is output as a sound (that is, the music) from each of left andright loudspeakers SpL and SpR. In the above mentioned situation, themusic reaches the headphone fitter's ears as if the music is output fromleft and right loudspeakers which are virtually installed in the frontof him as illustrated in FIG. 4A owing to the above mentioned imagenormal position processing performed on the signal.

In addition, in the above mentioned situation, the external sound whichhas been picked up using each of the mikes McL and McR of the headphone101 is amplified as an analog voice signal (also called a mike signal)using a mike amplifier 124 and then is transmitted to an ADC (A/Dconverter) 125 to be converted to a digital voice signal.

The digital voice signal is then transmitted to a digital mixer unit 121and an RF transmission unit 126. The digital mixer unit 121 performspredetermined digital processing on the digital voice signal to generatea digital voice signal which is out of phase with the sound which hasbeen picked up using each of the mikes McL and McR and mixes thegenerated digital voice signal with the digital voice signal which hasbeen received from the DAP 102.

As a result, a noise cancelling effect is given to the voice which isoutput from each of the loudspeakers SpL and SpR and it may becomepossible for the headphone fitter to listen to the music of clear tonequality in which the external noise is reduced.

In addition, the RF transmission unit 126 converts the digital voicesignal which has been converted using the ADC 125 to an RF signal to beoutput.

An RF reception unit 117 of the DAP unit 102 receives the RF signalwhich has been output from the RF transmission unit 126 of the headphone101 and converts the RF signal to a digital voice signal. The digitalvoice signal is then sent to a DAC 118 and is converted to an analogvice signal (that is, a mike signal) and is sent to a mike signalanalyzing process unit 119.

The mike signal analyzing process unit 119 performs an analyzing processon the mike signal to detect whether the headphone fitter has startedtalking with the person. Incidentally, the mike signal includes a mikesignal of a sound which has been picked up using the left mike McL and amike signal of a sound which has been picked up using the right mike McRand the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 performs the analyzingprocess respectively on both of the signals.

Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 which detects that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person sends the volumeand image normal position control unit 115 a notification that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person. Incidentally, amethod of detecting that a headphone fitter has started talking with aperson will be described later.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 which has receivedthe notification that the headphone fitter has started talking with theperson recognizes that the state of the headphone fitter has beenshifted from a music-listening state (also called a listening state) toa conversation-having state (also called a talking state).

In response to the above operation, the volume and image normal positioncontrol unit 115 shifts the mode from the listening mode to the talkingmode and sends a control signal to bring the NC function into OFF stateto the RF transmission unit 116 together with the digital voice signalwhich is sent from the reproducing unit 113. The control signal isoutput from the RF transmission unit 116 together with the digital voicesignal, is received by an RF reception unit 120 of the headphone 101 andis then sent to a digital mixer unit 121.

The digital mixer unit 121 brings the NC function into OFF state on thebasis of the control signal. Specifically, the digital mixer unit 121mixes the digital voice signal of the sound which has been picked upusing each of the mikes McL and McR with the digital voice signal whichhas been received from the DAP 102 without inverting the phase thereof.

As a result, the voice of the person who talks with the headphone fitterand the music which is being reproduced are output from each of the leftand right loudspeakers SpL and SpR of the headphone 101.

Incidentally, in general, a person who intends to talk with theheadphone fitter talks with the headphone fitter face to face with himand hence the person is present in the front of the headphone fitter.Thus, the voice of the person which has been picked up using each of themikes McL and McR and is output from each of the loudspeakers SpL andSpR will be heard from the front of the headphone fitter.

In the above mentioned situation, if the image of the music which isbeing reproduced is positioned in the front of the headphone fitter, theimage of the music which is being reproduced will be mixed with theimage of the voice of the person and it will become difficult for theheadphone fitter to catch the voice of the person.

Accordingly, the headphone system 100 is configured such that the normalposition of the image of the music which is being reproduced is moved tothe rear of the headphone fitter while he is talking with the personsuch that the image of the voice of the person who talks with theheadphone fitter is not mixed with the image of the music which is beingreproduced.

Specifically, the volume and image normal position control unit 115which has shifted to the talking mode performs the image normal positionprocessing on each of digital voice signals which are sequentially sentfrom the reproducing unit 113 such that the normal position of the imageof each digital voice signal is moved from the front to the rear of theheadphone fitter.

The digital voice signal which has been subjected to the image normalposition processing in the above mentioned manner is output from the RFtransmission unit 116, is received by the RF reception unit 120 of theheadphone 101 and is output from each of the left and right loudspeakersSpL and SpR of the headphone 101 as the sound (the music). In the abovementioned situation, the music is heard to the headphone fitter as ifthe left and right loudspeakers which have been installed in the frontof him so far are moved to the rear of him and the music is output fromthe loudspeakers which are installed at the rear of him as illustratedin FIG. 4B.

In the above mentioned manner, in the headphone system 100, it maybecome possible to prevent the voice of the person from becoming hardlyaudible by avoiding a situation that the image of the voice of theperson who talks with the headphone fitter overlaps the image of themusic which is being reproduced. As a result, the headphone system 100may permit the headphone fitter to talk with the person who is presentin the front of him with the headphone 101 fitted on his head andwithout performing any operation to stop listening to the music which isbeing reproduced.

Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 detects that theheadphone fitter has finished talking with the person by performing theanalyzing process on each mike signal and sends the volume and imagenormal position control unit 115 a notification that the headphonefitter has finished talking with the person. Incidentally, a method ofdetecting that a headphone fitter has finished talking with a personwill be also described later.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 which has receivedthe notification that the headphone fitter has finished talking with theperson recognizes that the state of the headphone fitter has beenshifted from the talking state to the listening state.

Thus, the volume and image normal position control unit 115 shifts backto the listening mode and sends a control signal used to bring the NCfunction into ON state to the RF transmission unit 116 together with thedigital voice signal sent from the reproducing unit 113.

The control signal is output from the RF transmission unit 116 togetherwith the digital voice signal, is received by the RF reception unit 120of the headphone 101 and is sent to the digital mixer unit 121. Thedigital mixer unit 121 brings the NC function into ON state on the basisof the control signal.

As a result, the noise cancelling effect is again given to the voicewhich is output from each of the loudspeakers SpL and SpR of theheadphone 101 so as to permit the headphone fitter to listen to themusic of clear tone quality in which the external noise is reduced.

Simultaneously with the above mentioned operation, the volume and imagenormal position control unit 115 performs the image normal positionprocessing on the digital voice signal which is sent from thereproducing unit 113 such that the normal position of the image thereofis moved from the rear to the front of the headphone fitter.

The digital voice signal which has been subjected to the image normalposition processing in the above mentioned manner is output from the RFtransmission unit 116, is received by the RF reception unit 120 of theheadphone 101 and is then output from each of the left and rightloudspeakers SpL and SpR of the headphone 101 as the sound (the music).In the above mentioned situation, the music is heard to the headphonefitter as if the left and right loudspeakers which have been installedat the rear of him so far are moved to the front of him and the music isoutput from the loudspeakers which are installed in the front of him.

As described above, the headphone system 100 is configured such thatwhen the headphone fitter has finished talking with the person, the modeis automatically shifted from the talking mode back to the listeningmode.

That is, the headphone system 100 according to this embodiment isconfigured to automatically detect the state (the talking state or thelistening state) of the headphone fitter and shift the mode to a modewhich is suited for the detected state of the headphone fitter. Owing tothe above mentioned operation, with the use of the headphone system 100,it may become possible for headphone fitter to listen to the music andtalk with a person with the headphone 101 fitted on his head and withoutperforming any mode switching operation.

Incidentally, the specific example of the reproducing device 1 which hasbeen described in Summary of Embodiments may be given as an example ofthe DAP 102 and the specific example of the headphone 3 may be given asan example of the headphone 101. Likewise, the specific example of thereproducing unit 2 of the reproducing device 1 which has been describedin Summary of Embodiments may be given as an example of the reproducingunit 113 of the DAP 102 and the specific example of the output unit 4 ofthe reproducing device 1 may be given as an example of the RFtransmission unit 116 of the DAP 102. Then, the specific example of thetalk detecting unit 5 of the reproducing device 1 may be given as anexample of the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 of the DAP 102.Then, the specific example of the image normal position control unit 6of the reproducing device 1 may be given as an example of the volume andimage normal position control unit 115 of the DAP 102. Then, thespecific example of the microphone 7 of the headphone which has beendescribed in Summary of Embodiments may be given as an example of themikes McL and McR of the headphone 101.

1-2-3 Detection of Start and Finish of Headphone Fitter's Talking andMode Shifting Timing

Next, detection that the headphone fitter has started talking with aperson and has finished talking with the person and mode shifting timingwill be described in detail.

The mike signal analyzing process unit 119 is configured to typicallyperform the analyzing process of judging whether the headphone fitter isspeaking to the person on each mike signal. Specifically, the mikesignal analyzing process unit 119 monitors signal levels of the left andright mike signals and when the left and right signal levels are almostequal to each other and are higher than a threshold value, judges thatthe headphone fitter is speaking to the person. This judging method isperformed on the basis of a way of thinking that the mouth of theheadphone fitter is a sound source which is situated apart from themikes McL and McR at equal intervals and in the most vicinity of themikes and the signal levels of the left and right mike signals becomealmost equal to each other and are increased when the headphone fitteris speaking to the person.

In reality, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 judges that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person when it is judgedthat the headphone fitter is speaking to the person in the listeningmode.

Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 sends the volume andimage normal position control unit 115 a notification that the headphonefitter has started talking with the person. Thus, the volume and imagenormal position control unit 115 shifts the mode from the listening modeto the talking mode.

Even after mode shifting, the mike signal analyzing unit 119continuously performs the analyzing process. That is, the mike signalanalyzing process unit 119 keeps monitoring the signal levels of theleft and right mike signals. Then, when a state in which the left andright signal levels are lower than the predetermined threshold value,that is, the headphone fitter does not speak to the person lasts for apredetermined time (for example, several seconds), the mike signalanalyzing process unit 119 judges that the headphone fitter has finishedtalking with the person.

Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 sends the volume andimage normal position control unit 115 a notification that the headphonefitter has finished talking with the person. Thus, the volume and imagenormal position control unit 115 shifts the mode from the talking modeback to the listening mode.

As described above, the headphone system 100 is configured to detectthat the headphone fitter has started or finished talking with theperson depending on whether the headphone fitter speaks to the person,thereby performing automatic mode shifting.

A specific example of mode shifting timing is illustrated in a timingchart in FIG. 5. First, it is assumed that the headphone system 100operates in the listening mode and a headphone fitter listens to themusic which is output from the headphone 101.

In the above mentioned situation, at a time t1, it is assumed that theheadphone fitter was called out from a person who is present in thefront of him, saying that “Mr. **!”.

At a time t2, it is assumed that the headphone fitter gave a reply,saying that “Yes”. In the above mentioned situation, in the headphonesystem 100, although the NC function is in ON state, it is not the casethat the sound from the outside is completely cancelled, and theheadphone fitter is in a state in which he may catch the external soundto some extent.

At the time t2, the signal levels of the left and right mike signalsbecome almost equal to each other and higher than the predeterminedthreshold value. On the basis of the above mentioned situation, the mikesignal analyzing process unit 119 judges that the headphone fitter hasstarted speaking to the person and notifies the volume and image normalposition control unit 115 of the judgment.

Then, the volume and image normal position control unit 115 switches themode from the listening mode to the talking mode at a time t3. At thattime, the volume and image normal position control unit 115 performs theimage normal position processing such that the normal position of theimage of the reproduced sound (the music) is continuously moved from thefront to the rear of the headphone fitter in a fixed time (for example,several seconds) counted from the time t3 to a time t4.

As described above, the volume and image normal position control unit115 is configured to continuously move the normal position of the imageof the reproduced sound from the front to the rear of the headphonefitter. By moving the normal position of the image in the abovementioned manner, it may become possible to make the headphone fitterrecognize that the mode has been shifted from the listening mode to thetalking mode with a more natural feeling.

After that, it is assumed that the headphone fitter kept talking withthe person. Then, at a time t5, it is assumed that a state in which anyconversation is not exchanged lasted for a fixed time after theheadphone fitter has finished speaking to the person.

The above mentioned situation means that a state in which the signallevels of the mike signals are lower than the threshold value lasted fora fixed time. Thus, at a time t6, the mike signal analyzing process unit119 judges that the headphone fitter has finished talking with theperson and notifies the volume and image normal position control unit115 of this judgment.

Then, at the time t6, the volume and image normal position control unit115 switches the mode from the talking mode to the listening mode. Inthe above mentioned case, the volume and image normal position controlunit 115 performs the image normal position processing so as tocontinuously move the normal position of the image of the reproducedsound from the rear to the front of the headphone fitter in a fixed time(for example, several seconds) counted from the time t6 to a time t7.

Also in the above mentioned case, it may become possible to make theheadphone fitter recognize that the mode has been shifted from thetalking mode to the listening mode with a more natural feeling bycontinuously moving the normal position of the image of the reproducedsound from the rear to the front of the headphone fitter.

The headphone system 100 is configured to shift the mode from thelistening mode to the talking mode and then from the talking mode backto the listening mode in the above mentioned manner.

Incidentally, a method of moving the normal position of an image to anarbitrary position is widely recognized as disclosed, for example, inJapanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-44263. Specifically, forexample, a digital voice signal is input into an image normal positionprocessing circuit (not illustrated) including an image normal positionfilter for a left channel and an image normal position filter for aright channel. The image normal position processing circuit performsconvolutional arithmetic processing on the digital voice signal usingthe image normal position filters for the left channel and the rightchannel to generate a voice signal for the left channel and a voicesignal for the right channel.

At that time, the image normal position processing circuit may becapable of positioning the image of each voice which is generated on thebasis of each digital voice signal to a desired normal position bychanging coefficient values of the image normal position filters for theleft and right channels with a head transfer function conforming to thedesired normal position.

Therefore, owing to installation of an image normal position processingcircuit as mentioned above in the volume and image normal positioncontrol unit 115, it may become possible to move the normal position ofthe image of each reproduced sound to an arbitrary position byperforming the above mentioned image normal position processing usingthe image normal position processing circuit.

1-2-4 Mode Shifting Process Procedure

Next, an example of procedure executed in mode shifting as describedabove (also called mode shifting process procedure) RT1 will bedescribed with reference to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. 6.

Incidentally, the mode shifting process procedure RT1 is procedure thatthe system control unit 110 executes by controlling respective units inaccordance with a program stored in the ROM.

In the example illustrated in the drawing, first, it is assumed that thevolume and image normal position control unit 115 operates in thelistening mode in accordance with a reproducing operation performed by auser under the control of the system control unit 110.

In the above mentioned situation, the mike signal analyzing process unit119 waits until speaking of a headphone fitter is detected at step SP1of the mode shifting process procedure RT1 under the control of thesystem control unit 110. Then, when speaking of the headphone fitter isdetected, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 judges that theheadphone fitter has started talking with a person and sends the volumeand image normal position control unit 115 a notification that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 which has receivedthe notification that the headphone fitter has started talking with theperson shifts the mode from the listening mode to the talking mode atstep SP2.

Then, at step SP3, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 waitsuntil a state in which the headphone fitter does not speak to the personlasts for a fixed time. Then, when a state in which the headphone fitterdoes not speak to the person lasts for the fixed time, the mike signalanalyzing process unit 119 judges that the headphone fitter has finishedtalking with the person and sends the volume and image normal positioncontrol unit 115 a notification that the headphone fitter has finishedtalking with the person.

The volume and image normal position control unit 115 which has receivedthe notification that the headphone fitter has finished talking with theperson shifts the mode from the talking mode back to the listening modeat step SP4.

Then, again at step SP1, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119waits until speaking of the headphone fitter is detected.

The headphone system 100 is configured to perform mode shifting inaccordance with the above mentioned mode shifting process procedure RT1.

1-2-5 Operations and Effects

In the above mentioned configurations, the headphone system 100 operatesin the listening mode which is suited for the headphone fitter to listento the music when the headphone fitter performs a reproducing operationfor reproducing the music.

In the above mentioned case, the headphone system 100 operates to bringthe NC function into ON state and to make the volume and image normalposition control unit 115 perform the image normal position processingso as to move the normal position of the image of the reproduced sound(that is, the music) to the front of the headphone fitter.

Owing to the above mentioned operation, the headphone system 100operates to permit the headphone fitter to listen to the music of cleartone quality with such a feeling that as if the music is output fromloudspeakers (not illustrated) which are installed in the front of theheadphone fitter in the listening mode.

In addition, in the listening mode, the headphone system 100 analyzesthe external sounds which have been picked up using each of the mikesMcL and McR for the NC function to detect whether the headphone fitterhas started talking with the person. Then, when it is detected that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person, the headphonesystem 100 automatically shifts the mode from the listening mode to thetalking mode which is suited for the headphone fitter to talk with theperson.

In the above mentioned case, the headphone system 100 brings the NCfunction into OFF state and outputs the external sounds (that is, thevoice of the person and the voice of the headphone fitter) which havebeen picked up using each of the mikes McL and McR for the NC functionand the reproduced sound from the headphone 101. In the above mentionedsituation, the headphone system 100 makes the volume and image normalposition control unit 115 perform the image normal position processingso as to move the normal position of the image of the reproduced sound(that is, the music) to the rear of the headphone fitter.

Owing to the above mentioned operation, the headphone system 100 mayavoid such a situation that in the talking mode, the image of the voiceof the person who is present in the front of the headphone fitter andthe image of the reproduced sound which are output from the headphone101 are mixed with each other to make the voice of the person hardlyaudible.

Thus, with the use of the headphone system 100, it may become possibleto automatically shift the mode from the listening mode to the talkingmode to make the headphone fitter talk with the person who is present inthe front of him without removing the headphone 101 from his head andperforming operations to stop the reproduced sound.

In addition, in the talking mode, the headphone system 100 analyzes theexternal sounds which have been picked up using each of the mikes McLand McR for the NC function to detect whether the headphone fitter hasfinished talking with the person. Then, when it is detected that theheadphone fitter has finished talking with the person, the headphonesystem 100 shifts the mode from the talking mode back to the listeningmode.

As described above, the headphone system 100 operates to automaticallyjudge the current state of the headphone fitter (the talking state orthe listening state) so as to automatically perform mode shifting suitedfor the detected state of the headphone fitter. Owing to the abovementioned operation, the headphone system 100 permits the headphonefitter to listen to the music and to talk with a person with theheadphone fitted on his head and without performing any operation formode switching.

According to the above mentioned configurations, the headphone system100 may be capable of avoiding such a situation that the image of thevoice of the person overlaps the image of the reproduced sound to makethe headphone fitter hardly catch the voice of the person, by moving thenormal position of the image of the reproduced sound to the rear of theheadphone fitter when it is detected that the headphone fitter hasstarted talking with the person. Owing to the above mentioned operation,the headphone system 100 permits the headphone fitter to talk with theperson which is present in the front of him with the headphone fitted onhis head and without performing any operation to stop the reproducedsound.

2. Altered Embodiments 2-1 Altered Embodiment 1

In the above mentioned embodiments, an example which is configured suchthat in response to mode-shifting to the talking mode, the volume andimage normal position control unit 115 controls to move the normalposition of the image of the reproduced sound to the rear of theheadphone fitter has been described.

In the above mentioned situation, the volume of a vocal part in thereproduced sound which is the same as the voice of the person who talkswith the headphone fitter in frequency band may be decreased. In theabove mentioned case, the volume and image normal position control unit115 performs a volume adjusting process of decreasing the volume of thesound in the frequency band corresponding to that of the vocal part onthe digital voice signal.

Owing to the above mentioned operation, the volume of the vocal part inthe reproduced sound is decreased and hence it may become possible forthe headphone fitter to catch the voice of the person who talks with himmore clearly.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the normal position ofthe image of the reproduced sound may be moved to above the head of theheadphone fitter in place of the rear of the headphone fitter. In theabove mentioned situation, the normal position of the image of thereproduced sound is moved to a position which is separated from theheadphone fitter so as not to interrupt the voice of the person whotalks with the headphone fitter. Owing to the above mentioned operation,it may become possible for the headphone fitter to talk with the personwhile listening to the reproduced sound like BGM.

Likewise, a distance between the headphone fitter and the normalposition of the image of the reproduced sound may be changed, forexample, in accordance with the signal levels of the mike signals (thatis, the sounds which have been picked up using the mikes McL and McR).

In reality, it may be thought that when the signal levels of the mikesignals are high, the headphone fitter speaks to the mate in a loudvoice. In the above mentioned case, it may be supposed that the distancebetween the headphone fitter and the person who talks with him is solong that the voice of the person is heard to the headphone fitter inwhispers. Thus, in the above mentioned situation, the normal position ofthe image of the reproduced sound is set away from the headphone fitterso as to decrease the volume of the reproduced sound. As a result, itmay become possible for the headphone fitter to sufficiently catch thevoice of the person no matter how far the headphone fitter is apart fromthe person who talks with him.

2-2 Altered Embodiment 2

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat the normal position of the image of the reproduced sound is movedto the rear of the headphone fitter such that the image of the voice ofthe person does not overlap the image of the reproduced sound under theassumption that the person who talks with the headphone fitter ispresent in the front of the headphone fitter has been described.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the position of theperson which is observed from the side of the headphone fitter may bespecified to move the normal position of the image of the reproducedsound to a position opposed to the position of the person with theheadphone fitter at the center.

In the above mentioned case, in order to specify the position of theperson which is observed from the side of the headphone fitter, atechnique for performing a beam-forming process may be used.

A technique for performing a beam-forming process is widely recognizedas disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.2008-193420. Briefly speaking, sounds generated from a sound source arepicked up using a plurality of microphones. Then, voice signals of thesounds which have been picked up using the plurality of microphones aredelayed and synthesized with one another to generate a synthetic signal.In the above mentioned case, the signal level of the synthetic signal isdetected while changing a delay time on the basis of the delay timewhich is prepared for each position and the position corresponding tothe delay time at which the signal level is maximized is defined as theposition of the sound source.

The mike signal analyzing process unit 119 may be configured to specifythe position of the sound source, that is, the position of the personwho talks with the headphone fitter by using a technique as mentionedabove.

Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119 operates to notify thevolume and image normal position control unit 115 of the position of theperson. The volume and image normal position control unit 115 which hasreceived the notification of the position of the person controls to movethe normal position of the image of the reproduced sound to the positionopposed to the position of the person with the headphone fitter at thecenter.

By moving the normal position of the image of the reproduced sound inthe above mentioned manner, it may become possible to separate thenormal position of the image of the voice of the person from the normalposition of the image of the reproduced sound with certainty regardlessof displacement of the position of the person from the front of theheadphone fitter. Incidentally, the mike signal analyzing process unit119 which is used in the above mentioned operation may be given as aspecific example of the position detecting unit 9 in the reproducingdevice 1 which has been described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the above mentioned example, the normal position of the image of thereproduced sound is moved to the position opposed to the position of theperson with the headphone fitter at the center. However, the way ofmoving the normal position is not limited to the above. In short, thenormal position of the image of the reproduced sound has only to movesuch that the image of the reproduced sound does not overlap the imageof the voice of the person.

Incidentally, in the case that the position of a sound source which issituated in the front of the headphone fitter is specified, any problemmay not occur even when the number of microphones used for performingthe beam-forming process is two. However, in the case that it isfavorable to specify the position over a wider range or to specify theposition with higher accuracy, the number of the microphones may beincreased to three or more.

In the above mentioned example, the position of the sound source isspecified. However, when once only the direction is specified, the sameeffect may be obtained by moving the normal position of the image of thereproduced sound in a direction which is different from a direction inwhich the person who talks with the headphone fitter is present with theheadphone fitter at the center.

On the other hand, it may be also possible to emphasize only the voicewhich comes from a specific direction, that is, only the voice of aperson who talks with the headphone fitter in the external sounds whichhave been picked up using the mikes McL and McR by utilizing a techniquefor performing a beam-forming process.

In the above mentioned case, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119specifies the position (it may be assumed to be the front) of the personwho talks with the headphone fitter and then sets a delay time for eachvoice signal in the sounds which have been picked up using the mikes McLand McR so as to emphasize only the voice of the person who talks withthe headphone fitter. Then, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119notifies the volume and image normal position control unit 115 of thedelay time. The volume and image normal position control unit 115 sendsthe RF transmission unit 116 a control signal indicating the delay time.

The control signal is then sent to the digital mixer unit 121 of theheadphone 101. The digital mixer unit 121 performs a beam-formingprocess on each digital voice signal in the sounds which have beenpicked up using the mikes McL and McR so as to emphasize only the voiceof the person who talks with the headphone fitter on the basis of thedelay time indicated by the control signal.

As a result, voices in which only the voice of the person is emphasizedare output from the loudspeakers SoL and SoR of the headphone 101 as thesounds which have been picked up from the outside.

Combined use of a beam-forming technique as mentioned above with theabove mentioned technique for moving the normal position of the imagemay prevent the image of the voice of the person from overlapping theimage of the reproduced sound and make the headphone fitter catch thevoice of the person who talks with him more clearly.

2-3 Altered Embodiment 3

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat the external sounds which have been picked up using each of themikes McL and McR for the NC function are analyzed to judge that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person in accordance withdetection of speaking of the headphone fitter has been described.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, detection that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person may be performed byusing various methods other than the above.

For example, it may be judged that the headphone fitter has startedtalking with the person when an operation that the face of the headphonefitter turns toward the sound source (that is, the person who will talkwith the headphone fitter) is detected.

In the above mentioned case, for example, a technique for performing abeam-forming process is utilized. Specifically, the mike signalanalyzing process unit 119 analyzes the mike signals to detectdisplacement of the position (that is, the position of the person whowill talk with the headphone fitter) of the sound source which exhibitsthe signal levels which are higher than a threshold value. Then, when itis detected that the sound source has moved from a certain position tothe front of the headphone fitter in a predetermined time period as theface of the headphone fitter turns toward the person, the mike signalanalyzing process unit 119 may judge that the headphone fitter willstart talking with the person.

In addition, for example, an acceleration sensor for detecting amovement of the face of the headphone fitter may be included in theheadphone 101 so as to judge whether the headphone fitter will starttalking with the person in accordance with the movement of the facewhich is obtained from the acceleration sensor and displacement of theposition of the sound source which is detected in the above mentionedmanner. Incidentally, the acceleration sensor may be given as a specificexample of the movement detecting unit 10 of the headphone 3 which hasbeen described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the above mentioned case, the headphone 101 may be configured suchthat an output signal from the acceleration sensor is input into themike signal analyzing process unit 119. Then, the mike signal analyzingprocess unit 119 may operate to judge that the headphone fitter willstart talking with the person, by detecting that as the sound sourcemoved to the front of the headphone fitter in a predetermined timeperiod, the face of the headphone fitter moved right and left.

Likewise, the headphone 101 may be configured such that it is judgedthat the headphone fitter has started talking with the person whenbehavior that the headphone fitter turns his face (shakes his head)right and left which is exhibited when he tries to look for the positionof the sound source (that is, the person who will talk with theheadphone fitter) has been detected.

Likewise, the headphone 101 may be also configured such that it isjudged that the headphone fitter has started talking with the personwhen behavior that the headphone fitter turns his face (shakes his head)up and down which is exhibited when he is called out from the person andhe nods has been detected.

In the above mentioned cases, the mike signal analyzing process unit 119may operate to analyze an output signal from the acceleration sensorincluded in the headphone 101 to detect the movement of the face of theheadphone fitter.

Likewise, a bone-conduction microphone may be included in the headphone101 to judge that the headphone fitter has stated talking with theperson when speaking (or nod) of the headphone fitter has been detectedfrom within sounds which have been picked up using the bone-conductionmicrophone. Use of the bone-conduction microphone may realize moreaccurate detection of speaking of the headphone fitter.

Likewise, the headphone 101 may be also configured such that it isjudged that the headphone fitter has started talking with the personwhen the signal levels of mike signals are higher than a predeterminedthreshold value and a word such as “Yes”, “Hi”, “I'm x x” or the likewhich is typically used when one person starts talking with anotherperson has been detected from the mike signals.

In the above mentioned case, the headphone 101 may be also configuredsuch that it is also judged that the headphone fitter has startedtalking with the person, by detecting speaking of the person such as‘Mr. x x”, “Hi” or the like in addition to detection of speaking of theheadphone fitter.

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat it is judged that the headphone fitter has started talking with theperson when the mike signals are monitored and the signals levels of theleft and right mikes are almost equal to each other and are higher thanthe predetermined threshold value has been described. In the abovementioned case, judgment as to whether a component of the voice of ahuman being is included in the mike signals may be added as one ofconditions for judgment. By adding the above mentioned judgment, moreaccurate judgment that the headphone fitter has started talking with theperson may be realized.

In addition, in order to realize more accurate judgment that theheadphone fitter has started talking with the person, the abovementioned various judging methods may be combined with one another. Forexample, it may be judged that the headphone fitter will start talkingwith the person on the basis of detection of speaking of the person anddetection of turning of the face of the headphone fitter right and leftsimultaneously.

2-4 Altered Embodiment 4

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat it is judged that the headphone fitter has finished talking withthe person when it is detected that a state in which the headphonefitter does not speak to the person lasted for the fixed time as aresult of analysis of external sounds which have been picked up usingthe mikes McL and McR for the NC function has been described.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the headphone 101 maybe configured to detect that the headphone fitter has finished talkingwith the person by using various methods other than the above.

It may be judged that the headphone fitter has finished talking with theperson, for example, when it is detected that a person has gone awayfrom the front of the headphone fitter.

In the above mentioned case, for example, a camera that photographs asubject which is present in the front of the headphone fitter may beincluded in the headphone 101 such that the system control unit 110 ofthe DAP 102 performs a person detecting process on an image which hasbeen taken using the camera. Then, a result of execution of the persondetecting process may be sent to the mike signal analyzing process unit119. The mike signal analyzing process unit 119 may judge that theheadphone fitter has finished talking with the person when the personhas not been detected any more on the basis of the result of the persondetecting process which has been sent from the system control unit 110.

In addition, for example, a person sensor configured to detect whether aperson is present in the front of the headphone fitter may be includedin the headphone 101 in place of the camera.

In addition, the headphone 101 may be configured such that it is judgedthat the headphone fitter has finished talking with the person when astate in which the person does not speak to the headphone fitter lastedfor a fixed time, in place of judgment on the basis of speaking of theheadphone fitter.

In the above mentioned case, the above mentioned technique forperforming the beam-forming process is utilized to emphasize, forexample, only the voice (that is, the voice of the person) which comesfrom the front in the external sounds which have been picked up usingeach of the mikes McL and McR. As a result, a mike signal in which onlythe voice of the person is emphasized may be obtained from each of themikes.

Then, it is judged that the headphone fitter has finished talking withthe person when a state in which the signal levels of the mike signalsare less than a predetermined threshold value, that is, the person doesnot speak to the headphone fitter lasted for a fixed time.

2-5 Altered Embodiment 5

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat the image normal position processing is performed on the digitalvoice signal which has been decoded using the reproducing unit 133 suchthat the normal position of the image of the reproduced sound is movedto the front of the headphone fitter in the listening mode has beendescribed.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the headphone 101 maybe configured such that the reproduced sound is output as it is withoutperforming the image normal position processing on the reproduced soundin the listening mode.

2-6 Altered Embodiment 6

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat the external sounds which have been picked up using the mikes McLand McR are output from the loudspeakers SpL and SpR of the headphone101 together with the reproduced sound in the talking mode has beendescribed.

In the above mentioned case, in the picked up external sounds, thevolume of a sound in a frequency band (for example, a high frequencyband) that a person (in particular, an aged-person) hardly catches maybe increased to be output.

In the above mentioned case, the digital mixer unit 121 performs anequalizing process of increasing the volume of the sound in thefrequency band that the aged-person hardly catches on each digital voicesignal in the sounds which have been picked up using the mikes McL andMcR.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, an equalizing processof increasing the volume of a sound in a frequency band which is thesame as that of a voice of a human being may be performed on eachdigital voice signal in the sounds which have been picked up using themikes McL and McR.

By performing the equalizing process in the above mentioned manner, itmay become possible for the headphone fitter to catch the voice ofhimself and the voice of the person who talks with him more clearly.

In addition, a screen used to adjust the volume of a sound in a certainfrequency band may be displayed on the display unit 114 of the DAP 102such that a user may adjust the volume. In the above mentioned case,adjustment of the volume of the sound in a certain frequency band may beperformed respectively on the sound which has been picked up using themike McL and on the sound which has been picked up using the mike McR.

2-7 Altered Embodiment 7

In the above mentioned embodiment, an example which is configured suchthat the present invention is applied to the headphone system 100 inwhich the headphone 101 is radio-connected with the DAP 102 has beendescribed.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the embodiment of thepresent invention may be applied to a headphone system in which theheadphone 101 is connected with the DAP 102 via a cable.

Likewise, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the embodiment of the presentinvention may be also applied to a player-integrated type headphone 200into which the function of the DAP 102 is built. In the above mentionedcase, the headphone 200 has an internal configuration formed by removingthe RF reception unit 120 and the RF transmission unit 126 from theinternal configuration of the headphone 101 and removing the RFtransmission unit 116 and the RF reception unit 117 from the internalconfiguration of the DAP 102.

Likewise, the embodiment of the present invention may be further appliedto a headphone system configured such that a headphone fitter may catchexternal sounds even when he fits a headphone on his head with noprovision of the NC function. In the above mentioned case, for example,a microphone used to detect speaking of the headphone fitter may beincluded in the headphone so as to move the normal position of the imageof a reproduced sound when speaking of the headphone fitter has beendetected from a mike signal.

In the above mentioned case, as described above, a camera or a personsensor may be included in the headphone so as to move the normalposition of the image of a reproduced sound when a person is detected ina predetermined range (for example, within a one-meter range) in thefront of the headphone fitter.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention may be stillfurther applied to a talking system configured by a cellular phone as asubstitution for the DAP 102 and a headset as a substitution for theheadphone 101.

In the above mentioned talking system, the voice of a headset fitterwhich has been picked up using a microphone included in the headset istransmitted to the terminal of a talk mate via the cellular phone. Thevoice of the talk mate which is transmitted from the terminal of thecall mate is received using the cellular phone and is output from aloudspeaker of the headset. The talking system is configured toimplement talking in the above mentioned manner.

In the above mentioned case, as a matter of course, the position of thetalk mate is apart from the headset fitter and hence it may be difficultto pick up the voice of the talk mate using a mike of the headset.

Thus, in external sounds which have been picked up using the mike of theheadset, only a voice which comes from the vicinity of the front of theheadset fitter, that is, only the voice of the headset fitter himself isemphasized by utilizing a technique for performing a beam-formingprocess.

Owing to the above mentioned operation, it is permitted to transmit thevoice of the headset fitter to the terminal of the talk mate in moreclear tone quality.

In addition, in the above mentioned embodiment, an example which isconfigured to include the digital mixer unit 121 in the headphone 101has been described. As an alternative, the digital mixer unit 121 may beincluded in the DAP 102. Incidentally, the digital mixer unit 121 may begiven as a specific example of the noise cancelling unit 8 and thebeam-forming process unit 11 included in the reproducing device 1 whichhas been described with reference to FIG. 1.

2-8 Altered Embodiment 8

In the above mentioned embodiment, a specific example which isconfigured such that the reproducing unit 113, the volume and imagenormal position control unit 115, the RF transmission unit 116 and themike signal analyzing process unit 119 are included in the DAP 102serving as the reproducing device as the basic configuration has beendescribed.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above mentionedconfiguration and the reproducing unit 113, the volume and image normalposition control unit 115, the RF transmission unit 116 and the mikesignal analyzing process unit 119 may be configured using other varioushardware or software elements on condition that the above mentionedelements have the same functions as the above mentioned units.

In addition, the headphone 101 is the type which is fitted on the headof a user to output sounds from loudspeakers disposed in the vicinity ofthe ears of the user and hence the headphone 101 does not limit the typeof the headphone used such as an inner-ear type, a canal type, ahead-band type or the like.

2-9 Altered Embodiment 9

In the above mentioned embodiment, a specific example which isconfigured such that programs used to execute various processes arewritten in the memory (the ROM) which is built into the system controlunit 110 has been described.

In addition to the above mentioned configuration, the programs may bewritten into a storage medium such as, for example, a memory card or thelike such that the system control unit 110 reads each program out of thestorage medium. In the above mentioned case, a slot into which thememory card is inserted is formed in the DAP 101.

Likewise, an external interface may be included in the DAP 102 such thateach program is acquired from a computer which is connected with theexternal interface and is installed into the flash memory 112.

Likewise, a network interface may be included in the DAP 102 such thateach program is downloaded from an external data source over a networkusing the network interface and is installed into the flash memory 112.

2-10 Modified Embodiment 10

The present invention is not limited to the above mentioned summary ofthe embodiment, specific examples thereof and other altered embodiments.That is, the present invention covers embodiments obtained byarbitrarily combining some of or all the above mentioned summary of theembodiment, specific examples thereof and other altered embodiments withone another and/or embodiments obtained by extracting some of them.

In addition, the above mentioned summary of the embodiment, specificexamples thereof and other altered embodiments are mere examples and thepresent invention may be applied to other various embodiments withoutdeparting from the gist of the present invention.

For example, the above mentioned altered embodiments 3 and 4 may becombined with each other so as to detect that the headphone fitter hasstarted talking with the person and has finished talking with the personby using various judging methods in combination.

The present application contains subject matter related to thatdisclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2009-247927 filedin the Japan Patent Office on Oct. 28, 2009, the entire content of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reproducing device, comprising: circuitryconfigured to: reproduce a contents sound that corresponds to a content;output the reproduced contents sound to a headphone; detect, based on aright sound signal and a left sound signal captured by a rightmicrophone and a left microphone of the headphone, conversation by awearer of the headset with a person, wherein the detection is furtherbased on a determination that the right sound signal and the left soundsignal are equal and are above a threshold; generate a control signal tomove a normal position of an image of the contents sound based on thedetection; move the normal position of the image of the contents soundto a first position based on the generated control signal, wherein thefirst position is opposite to a second position of the person withrespect to the wearer; reduce a volume level of frequencies in thecontents sound that correspond to a human voice; and turn noisecancellation into an OFF state based on the detection.
 2. Thereproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to analyze external sounds that have been picked upby the left microphone and the right microphone to determine that thewearer has started talking with the person.
 3. The reproducing deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured todetermine that the wearer has finished talking with the person based onthe external sounds that have been picked up by the left microphone andthe right microphone, and based on a state in which the wearer is silenthas lasted for a fixed time period.
 4. The reproducing device accordingto claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: cancel noiseby synthesis of a sound which is out of phase with the external sounds;and synthesize the external sounds with the reproduced contents sound.5. The reproducing device according to claim 2, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to determine that the wearer has started talking withthe person based on movement of a face of the wearer to a determineddirection.
 6. The reproducing device according to claim 2, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to execute a beam-forming process toemphasize a sound which comes from a specific position of the externalsounds which have been picked up by the right microphone and the leftmicrophone.
 7. The reproducing device according to claim 2, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to determine, based on analysis of theexternal sounds which have been picked up by the right microphone andthe left microphone and based on a detection of a determined word as aresult of the analysis, that the wearer has started talking with theperson.
 8. The reproducing device according to claim 2, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to, based on synthesis of the externalsounds which have been picked up by the right microphone and the leftmicrophone with the reproduced contents sound, increase a volume ofsounds in a determined frequency band in the external sounds.
 9. Thereproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the headphone includesa bone-conduction microphone, and the circuitry is further configured todetermine that the wearer has started talking with the person based onanalysis of sounds picked up by the bone-conduction microphone.
 10. Thereproducing device according to claim 1, wherein the headphone includesa camera configured to photograph a subject which is present in front ofthe wearer, and the circuitry is further configured to determine thatthe wearer has finished talking with the person, based on an absence ofthe person from an image captured by the camera.
 11. A headphone,comprising: circuitry configured to: reproduce a contents sound thatcorresponds to a content; detect, based on a right sound signal and aleft sound signal captured by a right microphone and a left microphoneof the headphone, conversation by a wearer of the headset with a person,wherein the detection is further based on a determination that the rightsound signal and the left sound signal are equal and are above athreshold; generate a control signal to move a normal position of animage of the contents sound based on the detection; move the normalposition of the image of the contents sound to a first position based onthe generated control signal, wherein the first position is opposite toa second position of the person with respect to the wearer; reduce avolume level of frequencies in the contents sound that correspond to ahuman voice; and turn noise cancellation into an OFF state based on thedetection.
 12. A method, comprising: reproducing a contents sound thatcorresponds to a content; outputting the contents sound that has beenreproduced to a headphone; detecting, based on a right sound signal anda left sound signal captured by a right microphone and a left microphoneof the headphone, conversation by a wearer of the headset with a person,wherein the detection is further based on a determination that the rightsound signal and the left sound signal are equal and are above athreshold; generating a control signal to move a normal position of animage of the contents sound based on the detection; moving the normalposition of the image of the contents sound to a first position based onthe generated control signal, wherein the first position is opposite toa second position of the person with respect to the wearer; reducing avolume level of frequencies in the contents sound that correspond to ahuman voice; and turning noise cancellation into an OFF state based onthe detection.